Duplex train safety device



May 15, 1928.

C; PIFER DUPLEX "I R AII J SAFETY DEVICE Filed-"Match 1a, 1926 SSheets-Sheet Attorney May 15, 1928.

lnpentor 6247186 Pgfer, Q I 122012..

Attorney May' l5, 192s. I 7 1,670,003

. v C- PIFER DUPLEX TRAIN SAFETY DEVICE Filed March 13, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor May 15, 1928.

C. PIFER DUPLEX TRAIN SAFETY DEVICE 5 Sheets-Sheet Filed March 13, 1926 Q Q Inventor fiarzas' 1??)497;

t By

Attorney May 15, 1928. 1,670Q003 C. PIFER DUPLEX TRAIN SAFETY DEVICE Filed March 1 192-5 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ligventor z/er;

Patented May 15, 1928.

CHARLES PIPER, or YouNGs'rowN, 01110.

nurnnx TRAIN SAFETY DEVICE.

" Application filed'March'i3,:1926. Serial No. 94.530.

This invention relates broadly to an improved air brake structure for railway equipment, and it more specific referencesto a railway safety appliance such .as-serves to 6 automatically apply the train brakes'in the event the engineer fails to observe caution and danger signals in ablock signalling systern.

Under ordinary conditions, .the ihand'le'of 10 the automatic brake valve in the cab is maintained in running position, .but when'the signals of the block system register caution or danger, the handle is moved to SQIVICQ position, thus reducing the tram plp'e pres- 35 sure and automatically applying the brakes.

It has been my experience to note that for various reasons the engineer inadvertently fails to proceed as stated. This results from his failure to see the signal under poor Weather 'conditions,- or sometimes from his physical inability to attend to his duties as 7 may be caused from unexpected illness.

Since'the failure to apply thebrakesat the proper time might result in the serious loss of lilie and damage, I have conceived and I produced-a novel structure which will automatically apply the brakestand bring the train to a stop in timeto avoid accident.

' Briefly, the invention relates to a mechanical system of valve cylinders and piping I which is directly associated with the brake valve to momentarily render the latter in effective by cutting'ofi' the supply ofamain reservoir air and simultaneously relieving the train pipe pressure, whereby to apply the brakes automatically even if the control han-- is left in dle of the automatic brakeva'lve running position. g r I 1 WVhile t'he =automatic. pressure operated system of piping and cylinders is an outstanding feature of the present invention,'

I wish to mention here that a manually controlled valved device isemployed and =located within convenient reach of the engineer for the purpose of temporarily throwingtheautomaticpressure-system out of 0pcrati0n.

In addition, mechanical means is provided and carried by the tender to automatically bring said system into play, this being in I the form of a novel track controlled device.

Furthermoreyan automatic electrical contrivance is employed and associated with the system and also with the'track for automatically throwing said systemv temporarily out of operation in the eventthat a clear signal is displayed and anapplication of the brakes is not desired,orrequired. j I Finally, a "second electrical contr-ivance is employed and associated with-the auto matic brake valve and :under the control of 7 the engineer for actuating an electromagnet which is operated to throw said system temporarilyou't ofoperation. y The specific details and relative arrange ment thereofwill become apparent from the following description and drawing. y

In the drawings: I 1

Figure lis a fragmentary side. view of a portion of an engine tender showing apor' ti on' of one main rail and .an auxiliaryv rail,

together with the mechanical means which is associated;therewith system into play. v

F1gure2'1s an endIelevation of the-struc-.

for. bringing said time shown in Figure 1 indicating certain of :the parts in dotted-lines.

Figure '3 is .an enlarged vertical section taken approximately upon the'plane of the line 33 of Figure 1. j

. Figure israhorizontal section taken approximately upon the plane of the line 44 of Figure Figure 5 is [a detail vliew of one of the v Figure 8 is a side view "of apart ofthe railroad track showing the main rail and one of the supplemental :r'ails.

Figure 9 is a section taken through said railsto show the relative arrangement more plainly. I I a Figure 10 is a diagrammatic outlayof relation ofparts tmore'in general.

the entire invention,"showii1gthe relative .Figure 11 is-a diagrammatic view showing a portion 'ofFigure 10 with certain of v the parts in an inoperative state.

Figure 12 is a top plan view of a. conventional automatic brake valve modified in accordancewith my invention and showing the operating handlein service position.

' It is believed that a better understanding of the invention maybe had/"by first 1 directing attention to Figure vl0 wherein a. diaducting wire rammatic plan of the entire device is inicated in a general way. Referring to this figure it will be seenthat the reference character 1 designates an ordinary or conventional automatic brake valve. such .as is i installed in the engine cab within convenient reach ofthe engineer. The internal con struction of this valve is as usual. The stem of the rotary part of the valve however is indicated at 2,.is extended above the top of the casing and carries an electrical contact 3'from which an electricity conducting wire 4 extends. Also on top of the casing isan upstanding lug 5 provided with a complemental, contact 6 fromwhich a current con- 7 extends The operating handle. 8 is "connected to the stem. As before stated, this handle is normally in running position, while the train is moving, but is moved to service position "when it is desired to reduce the pressure in the train 1 line and to apply thebrake.

Air is supplied from the main reservoir 7 (not shown) through the pipe section 9 to inafter described; Connected with the main reservoir pipesection 9 is a right angular branch pipe 15 Which is in turnconnected to a control valve 16 for said supplemental automatic system. At this time I would direct attention to the conventional reducing valve 17 which is connected with the reservoir pipe section 9 byway of the short pipe 18', and is connected with the cutout valve 10 by a branch pipe 19, and with the control valve16 by a branch pipe20 thus serving to introduce pressure into the cylinders of these respective valves 10 and 16 for :'maintaining them normally open as shown in Figure 10. Attention is now called to anautomatically operable pressure exhausting and relief valve 21. It will be noted thata pipe 22 affords communication between the control valve 16 and the relief valve 21. This pipev22 carries main reservoirpressurewhich is received from the aforesaid angular branch 15 when the valve I 16 is open. B eneath thispipe 22 at the righthand end is a short pipe section 23 which extends from'the aforesaid train line pressure pipe 13to the valve 16. A return pipe 23 serves to conduct this train pressure air when the valve 16"is open to the lower portion of the valve 21. Leading from the top portion of the relief valve 21 is a further pipe 24 which has an upwardly directed portion which connects with the pressure operated system which is directly associated with the automatic brake valve 1. If desired, three indicating gages 25, 26,

and 27 may be employed. The gage 25 is connected through a'pipe28' with the train line pressure pipe section 23". The 26 is connected with the main reservoir pressure. conducting pipe section 22, while the remaining gage27 is: connected through a pipe 30 with the exhaust pressure conductingbranch pipe 24. i Q V As before stated, the handle 8 offthe automatic brake'valve 1 is normally maintained in running position when the train is traveling under normal conditions. i If, however, the engineer wishes to bring the train to a stop,'he moves the handle from running position to service-position and this reduces the pressure inthe train line pipe to automatically apply thebrakes, It. isobv-ious that this operation is not interfered-withby the presence of the supplementary system, for air comes from the main reservoir (not shown) through the pipe section 9, then through the normally open cut, off valve 10, and branchsection 9 -into the brake valve 1. It'then flows off through the train line pressure conducting pipes 11, 12, and 13, and carries on its usual. work. -Assuming however that the signalsof the conventional block signalling systems areto-be observed and that the train is to be brought to a stop when a danger or a caution signal is shown, 1

it'is well known that as such. si nalsare frequently inadvertently unobservec and for other reasons stated, the handle 8 being left in running position might result in considerable damage; Atthis point in the description attention is directed to Figure :7 wherein'a diagrammatic view shows three sections of a conventional block signalling system. More specifically-this view simply shows the main rail 31 of the left hand section, the main rail 32 of the central section, and

the main rail 33-ofthe righthand section.

In accordance with my idea, supplemental way, and current supply wires 35 hand 36 being connected to the supplemental rails in each instance. As is customary, the wires lead from the current supply batteries of "the signalling system, current will be conraised rails 34; are placed alongside of the main ralls in each lnstance, theymam rails being insulated from each other in the usual ducted through the-wires35 and 36 to the supplemental rails 34. The purpose of this arrangement will-be made clear "later in the 1 description. At this *time it is =sufiicient to state that "the main purpose of using the supplemental rail is *to bring the pressure supply system temporarily into play so that the brakes will be automatically applied every time the supplemental rails are en;

countered. In Figures *8 and '9 it is appardesign and the supplemental rail 34 is in,

i each instance, of special form and comprises so doing,

a central "flat portion and downwardly 'di-' rected entl portion, the same being supported from'brackets 37 of, I-shaped cross section. These brackets are positioned alongside of the rail 33 as shown in Figure 9 and are located at proper points-to provide for the desired clearance for brake beams or other hanging contriva'nces carried by itrains. The-elevationof-the supplemental rails will be governed according to various circumstances.

As before intimated, mechanical means is employed for operating the; supplemental brake applying systems and by directing attention 'to Figure 1 it will be seen that this means comprises a structure suspended from the tender '88. This structure comprises a pair of appropriately shaped hangers '39 disposed 'in' spaced ipara'llelism. The intermediate portion oftthese hangers, which are in-the form of metal strips are flattened somewhat as indicated at 40. 'Then vertical braces '41 are =COI1he6ttltl'let8t0 to insure rigidity of construction. Passing "through the portions 40 of the ha-11gers and through t-he'top conneetingi bar 42 a re'four bolts 43 upon which a vertically lifta-ble plate is slidably mounted. Coiled springs =45 surround *the bolts and bear-upon the plate and serve to maintain the latter normally in a predeterminedposition; Above J the movable plate 44 is 'a stationary plate '46 which is appropriately bolted in placeand is 'main-' tained in a predetermined position by the spacing sleeve 471 Carried by the central portion of the movable plate 44 and insulated therefrom is a channel shaped member 48 carrying ajournal pin upon which a roller 49 is mounted =for rotation. The head of a plunger 50 rests upon the central =portion of the plate 44 and extends =upwardly through the top bar 42. Obviously'then,-as

the roller 49 rides'up on the supplemental rails 34, it raises the plates 44 up-ward against theaction of the coil springs "45. In

it also raises the plunger 50 upwardly. V

At "this time I would state that while I have shown the relief cylinder 21 more or less in at diagrammatic way in Figure 10,

' it-is actually-of a special design-suel1-as indicated in Figure 1 and in detail in Fig- 'ures 5-and'6. a I W r -Att-en'tion is first directed to Figure, 1

the piston in t-he valve 21 isclosed. .ing however, that the train enters" a block wherein it will be seent'hat an appropriate support '51 "isprovidedfasa mounting for this "valve, the valve being disposed in the vertical position. However, in practice it may "be located in any convenient way onthe lower "portion of the tender sov that it will i be operated {by the plunger 50. In Figure 5, it is'obvious that the valve 21 comprisesa suitably constructed cylinder "52' mounted upon 'a stationary support'f51; Slidab le in this cylinder is "a piston comprising verti- I p cally spaced disks 53 and a stem 54 connected,

at it'supper-end to'a cross piece 55'which'is in turn connected to connecting rods '56 which extend slidably through the support v51. 'Then there' is another 'cross pi'e'cej57 at.

the lower'ends of the rods and this carries a depending part-58 with whichthe upper end of the aforesaid plunger 50 is adapted to engage. A'spring 59 cooperates with the cross piece 57 to maintain the piston in ;thc position shown in Figure' 5. If'desired', the wall of 'thecylinder may be enlarged and channeled as indicated at GOL This will facilitate the entrance and circulation of air.

The operation of thedevice as far'as it has been thus described, is as follows'-The air comes from the reservoir in the usual way and passes through the pipe sections 9 and "valve '10, and pipe section 9 to't'h'eauto matic' brake valve; From the automatic brake valve it passes through the train pressure pipes 11, 12,13,223, and then into the cylinder of thevalve 16. This'valve simply comprises'acylinde-r and a floating piston of the construction shown." This is alsotrue of the valve 10.1 When the piston is in the position shown in Figure '10, the

train line pressure circulates-through the cyli inder of the valve 16 and returns through the retur Pipe d into the Valve Y inder -21.

" At {the same timethe air pressure passes upwardly through the branch 18 from the main reservoir into the reducing-valve" 17' and then through the *branc'hes'19 and '20 into the top chambers of the valves'10and 16 respecti vely, thus maintaining the pistons in these two valvesopen. In addition, reservolr pressure air passes through the right angular 'bra-nch 15 across the cyl nder 16 lnto the." pipe section 22 and'finto' the valve 21.

Itfwill benoted however, that at this time Assumsignalling system, it Will-be seen that each supplemental "raised rails ,willoperate the roller or shoe in away to lift the plunger '46. In so doing, the "reciproc'atory valve' pis section of the system is encountered, the

exhaust pipe 61. Simultaneouslyjair pass-, ing through the mainreservoir pressurecon- -ductiiig pipe section 22 willlflow into the haust pipe 61 and as the source of supply of f air tot-he automatic brake valve. has been cut ofii',,there Wlll bea reduction bytlngexhausting into theatmosphere which will serve to automaticallyapply the brakes of. thetrain regardless of the position Of; the brake handle 8. It followsthat if theengineer entered the block signalling system; and a danger'or a caut on s gnal was displayed and he did not see it, and the handlewas,

in running position, the supplementalsystem or brake applying device will come'automatically into play and apply the brakes. Ofcourse, as soon asthc shoe resumes its normal position under the action of. the

spr ng means provided, the parts of the device will return to their normahposition when thetrainline pressure s reduced to atmospheric pressure and; the device will not operate until it encounters" the next supple-.

mentalrail.

Itis obvious that the device is ideal incase the engineer did'not see the signahanddid not bring the'train to a stop, OI'fif for any reason that he is physically unable to attend to his duties at this; time. On the other hand itmay not be desirable to permit the automatic device to operate undenall conditions, particularly-if a clear signal sdisplayed in the block and the engineer is on the job. It therefore follows that-it desirable'to provide a means under the control of the engineer for throwing the device out of play. Thisis donein the presentcase by the provision of a hand controlled valve ('32 which is located alongside of the automatic.

brake valve .1. This valve 62 includes an operating handle 63;- In addition, a pipe 64 isconnected thereto below the valved diaphragm, and this pipe'it will beseeu connected with the main reservoir supply pipe section 9. Then too, another .pipe 65 is CO I nected with the'valve casing above .this.dia-

phragin, and this leads downwardly to andis connected with the bottom of the aforesaid valve 16 by way of the short connection-66.

It follows that when the valve handle .63. is

depressed, air will flow directly ,froin the main reservoir through the pipe (34 andupwardly through the open diaphragm in the valve 62 and then through the pipe 65 to the control valve 16. The reservoir air pressure underneath the floating piston in this valve 16 will lift the piston up-to ,a position. to cut off, communication between the pipes 15 and 22 in one instance, and 23 and 23 in the other v instance; Thus, even if the valve 21. ,ispp'erated when the next supplemental rail is en countered the device will not be effective..

,Rcferringnow to Figures 10 and '11,. it

will be seen. that. the reference character.

designates generally an, electromagnetic valve which includes a core 68 and an especially constructed casing foraccommodating.

agravityclosed. valve 6.9; This valve. op-

crates in a suitable chamber and serves to close a passage extending down into abet} tom. chamber. 70.. It .will be noted thatv a relief port 71; connects with this passage. In addition, there is a pipe 7 2 whichconnects with the upper chamber and with the branch pipe 15, thus conducting the main reservoir air from the pipe section 9Ithrough the pipe 15. pipe 72 and into, the 'valved chamber; vVhen thevalve 69 is open,'the' air passes down into the'lower chamber 7 0 and through a pipe section 73, portion 66 and intothe casing of the valve .16. This. constitutes an electrical contrivance which in effee-t does the same thing that. the mechanical means 62 does, The onlythingnecessary is to energize this magnet at the proper time, to attract the valve 69. and to open it, thus allowing the airto pass through the pipe 72 and the valved passage-into the controlvalve 16, thus'throwing the {device out of, operation. Two Waysare provided for'energizj ing this magnet. First,-th'e aforesaid contacts 3 and 6 register when/the valve handle 8 is in service position as shown inFigure 4 and 7. .These wires are electrically-con- 10p 12, thus closingv the-gap bridging the wires nected wiitha battery; 74 or other suitable source of supply and'are in addition con-- nected with the magnet of the valve :67 It follows'that when thevalve handle is moved to service position, a circuit is closed through thewires4'and- 7 for energizing the magnet of the valve 67,-thus closing the valve 16 and rendering the/brake applying device inoperative. It will thus .be' seen that if the engineer sees the signals in theblock and does not w1sh the device to' operate and wishes to apply theabrakes when he moves the handle to service position to apply the brakes,; he simultaneously throws the supplemental device of this invention out 0 operation for the time being. v

- i The second way of energizingthemagnet valve .67 lsaccompllshed by connecting elec-.

tric 'wires 75 and 76 "with the. aforesaid rollers 49 (see Figure 10) and ;vvith.aacon-.-

ventional relay 77. This serves to clo'se the circuit through thewires 35 and 36, sup pleinentalra'fls 34,,wires 7 5- and 7 ,6,"relays 77,

and-wires 78 and 79. to the magneticvalve. Thusthe same thing happens; that is,the

'valve'plug-69 is raised to allow 'air'to flow through pipes 9, 15, 72, and 7 3through the connection 66 andinto the control valvel6,

' a trio of valved cylinders, and piping, the

piping being appropriately arranged so that under normal conditions air comes from the main reservoir to the automatic brake valve through the supplemental rails.

andflows through the train pipe in the usual way unaffected by the presence of this invention; However, when a block signalling system is encountered and the sup plemental rails are also encountered, theshoes on opposite sides of the tender serve to operate the plunger-s. which in turn op crate the relief valves 21 to bring the device into play and to allow a reduction in the train pressure line and to simultaneously cut off the main reservoir supply to the automatic .brake valve, thus applying-the brakes regardless of the position of the handle. It follows that if the handle is left in running position, this is immaterial because this device operates automatically'to apply the brakes incase of danger. If, however, the engineer desires to throw the device out of operation, this may be done with the mechanical means 62, or with the electrical means comprising the electric circuit controlled by the operation of the handle 8 when in service position, or further by the automatic electrical means which-is operated The only time that the last named electrical device operates, is only when a clear signal given for this is the only time that the supplemental rails 34 will be energized from the signal batteries.

It is believed that the features and advantages of the invention will become ap parent from the foregoing description and drawing. Persons skilled in the art will no doubt be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention, for this reason a more lengthy description is thought unnecessary.

'Minor changes coming within thefield of invention claimed may be resorted to if desired. I

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In an air brake structure of the class described, an automatic brake valve,'and an automatic device controlled by reservoirair pressure and assoclated with said valve for simultaneously cutting off the main reservoir supply of air to the brake valve and permitting a reduction in the train line pressure in order to automatically apply the brakes even when the operating handle of the valve is in running position, and electrical means associated with the automatic brake valve handle and said device for throwing said device temporarily out ofoperation when the brake valve handle is moved to service position.

2. In an air brake structure brake valve, an automatic reservoir pressure controlled device associated with said brake valve for simultaneously. cutting off the of the class described; in combination, an automat c main reservoir supply of air to said brake valve and permitting a reduction in the train v line pressure in order to automatically apply the train brakes even when the operating handle of said valve is in running posi-- tion, a manually operated hand controlled device associated with said pressure operated device for throwing the latter out of operation at the discretion of the engineer and electricalmeans independent of said hand operated device, associated with the autoy matic brake valve handle and said pressure controlled device for throwing said device with saidcut off valve and with'saidautQA matic brake valve, a relief and exhaust valve connected with said out off valve, a train pressure pipe connected with said automatic brake valve, a control valve .With which said train pressure pipe is connected, a re-- turn pressurepipe connected with said control valve and also with said relief valve,

and a main reservoir air supply pipe con-.

nected with said control valve and with-said relief valve, and a conducting pipe affording communication between said out off valve and relief valve. I r v 4. In an air brake structure of the class described in combination, an automatic brake valve, a cut off valve, a main reservoir pipe section connected with said out off valve, a second main reservoir pipe section connected with said out off valve and with said automunication with said out ofi valve, a train pressure pipe connected with said automatic brakevalve, a control valve with which said train pressure pipe is also connected, a re- 'ma'tiebrake valve, a relief cylinder ingcomi turn pressure pipe connected with said con-' trol valve and also with said relief valve,-a' main reservoir air supply pipe connected with said control valve,-a conducting pipe affording communication between said cut 03 cylinder and relief valve, an electromagnet valve associated with said control .valve, piping connecting said magnetic valve with said control valve, and electrical means for energizing the magnet in said valve.

In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature.

CHARLES PIFER. j 

